Problem: Simplify the following expression: $x = \dfrac{7p - 8}{8p + 8} + \dfrac{-11p - 4}{8p + 8}$
Solution: Since the expressions have the same denominator we simply combine the numerators: $x = \dfrac{7p - 8 - 11p - 4}{8p + 8}$ Combine like terms: $x = \dfrac{-4p - 12}{8p + 8}$ Simplify by dividing numerator and denominator by 4: $x = \dfrac{-p - 3}{2p + 2}$